Arturo Luz at home

Miniature copies of the National Artist’s works are now available in Rustan’s

WHILE the works of National Artist for Visual Arts Arturo Luz are most often seen in important buildings (at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, among others), one can now own an Arturo Luz piece to be displayed at home.

Through the efforts of Mr. Luz’s surviving family (he passed away in 2021) and Rustan’s, one can buy miniature copies of his sculptures, as well as furniture bearing some of Mr. Luz’s work.

Considering that Mr. Luz’s painting, Musicians, sold for P21 million at a Leon Gallery auction in 2016, an Arturo Luz coffee table at Rustan’s is a steal at P180,000.

The items are on display in an exhibit called Improvisations by Arturo Luz which opened on the fifth floor of Rustan’s Makati on Sept. 19. It was moved to the fourth floor this week, and the exhibit will be up until Oct. 31.

The family’s partnership with Rustan’s is slated to run for a year — they had a previous collaboration with Rustan’s in 2017, under the Rustan’s for the Arts program.

“We will be coming up with additional items,” Luisa Luz-Lansigan, the artist’s daughter, said in a group interview at the opening. According to her, the works were executed by “an official furniture outfit who’s also involved with Rustan’s.”

“We gave them the license. Actually, the designs come mostly from us,” she said. “We really wanted to come up with items that are of different sizes, prices, so that anybody can take home a piece of Arturo Luz.”

Her niece, the artist’s grandchild, Paulina Luz-Sotto, agrees. “To make it more accessible, so more people can appreciate his work. A lot of his work now — a lot of it’s already sold. A lot of them are paintings, sculptures; they’re all expensive. These are more accessible options.”

Ms. Luz-Sotto says that they are not copies, or replicas: “Not replicas, but I guess, like reimagined? It’s more like… putting out a collection that younger generations can appreciate. Something more accessible,” she said in a group interview.

Is art still Art when it can be sold in a department store, as one of many? The originals still stand of course, and Ms. Luz-Sotto said about making versions of her grandfather’s work, “If someone’s going to do it, at least it’s us. I lived with my Lolo. It was me, my mom (the artist’s daughter, the late Angela Luz), my Lolo and my Lola. We were in the same household. If someone’s going to do it, might as well be us.”

THE ARTIST AS LOLO
In a statement, Rustan’s summarized Mr. Luz’s life and work: “Arturo Luz, honored as a National Artist for the Visual Arts in 1997, was a painter, sculptor, photographer, printmaker, designer, and one of the most influential voices in the neo-realist movement in the local art scene. His 60-year career also included museum directing (Metropolitan Museum of Manila and Museum of Philippine Art), art directing (Design Center of the Philippines), and founding a museum (The Luz Gallery, known for featuring works of acclaimed local modernist artists like Joya, Sanso, Bencab, and himself).

“Educated in Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas and art schools in France and the United States, Luz made his mark for his brand of neo-realism that used minimalist aesthetics, simple geometric shapes, monochromatic hues, and interplays of lines, shapes, and textures to depict the realities of Filipino life,” the statement said. “Throughout his career, Luz’s works have been celebrated locally and abroad. They have been exhibited in prestigious events, like the Philippine Cultural Exhibition in New York in 1953, Arte de America y Espana in 1963, the 11^th Sao Paolo Biennial in 1971, the Tokyo International Print Biennial in 1974, the 8^th British International Print in 1984, among others.”

To Ms. Luz-Sotto (herself an artist), he was just Lolo.

“It’s funny because you only know him as the artist, and stuff. But for me, growing up, I never saw him as an artist: he was just my Lolo. I was actually much older when it kind of hit me, like, ‘he is a National Artist,’ and that’s when I started really appreciating his work.

“He never boasted about his work or anything. He never talked to me about his work. I’d never even seen him paint.”

What she does recall from her visits to his studio was her doing arts and crafts on his table. “Every time I would go to his studio, it was always about what I wanted to do,” she said. “Not really mentoring. He was just my Lolo.

“He had one wall dedicated to my kiddie drawings… he was really sweet.”

Growing up with two famous last names (her father is host and comedian Vic Sotto) and pursuing a career in a field where her Luz name looms large, she said, “Even though he never really mentored me, growing up surrounded by his paintings, it kind of came out in my work. Everyone says they see his style… even if I’m not trying, it just comes out.

“If I’m going to be under the shadow of anyone, it might as well be him.” — Joseph L. Garcia